FIFTH BRIGADE OF MARINES.
On September 5, 1918, the Major General Commandant directed the post commander, Marine barracks, Quantico, Va., to organize brigade headquarters of the Fifth Brigade, United States Marine Corps.
This brigade was accordingly organized and was composed of the Eleventh and Thirteenth Regiments and the Fifth Brigade Machine Gun Battalion. The companies of the Fifth Brigade were designated by letters and not by numbers.
Brig. Gen. Eli K. Cole was designated as the brigade commander and on September 15, 1918, he and the Brigade Staff sailed from Hoboken, N. J., on board the Von Steuben, arriving at Brest, France, on September 24, 1918.
The Thirteenth Regiment left the Overseas Depot at Quantico, Va., on Friday, September 13, 1918, and on September 15, 1918, sailed from Hoboken, N. J., on board the Henderson and Von Steuben, arriving at Brest, France, on September 25, 1918.
On September 29, 1918, Eleventh Regiment Headquarters and the First Battalion sailed on the De Kalb from Philadelphia, Pa., and arrived at Brest, France, on October 13, 1918. On October 16, 1918, the Second and Third Battalions of the Eleventh Regiment sailed from Brooklyn, N. Y., on board the Agamemnon and Von Steuben and arrived at Brest, France on October 25, 1918.
On October 28, 1918, the Fifth Brigade Machine Gun Battalion sailed from South Brooklyn, N. Y., on board the Henderson and arrived at Brest, France, on November 9, 1918. With the arrival of this unit the entire Fifth Brigade was in France.